Sam Allardyce: Andy Carroll can go from flop to the top

Andy Carroll is looking to re-establish himself as one of England's top strikers

And the West Ham boss has challenged his new record signing to prove Brendan Rodgers was wrong to ditch him without even giving him a chance.

West Ham paid Liverpool an initial £16m to sign Carroll permanently after his loan spell last season.

Add-ons could take the England striker's transfer fee to £19m.

Chuck in Carroll's £100,000-a-week wages during a deal that could be as long as eight years and the total package could rise to a massive £60m.

The figures are staggering, just like the total transfer fees Carroll has fetched at the age of just 24.

The total already stands at £51m thanks to the record £35m Liverpool paid to sign him from his home-town club Newcastle in 2011.

It is huge amount for a striker with a hardly-prolific record of 27 goals in 109 Premier League appearances.

His total of seven in an injury-hit campaign was some way short of top scorer Robin van Persie's 26.

But an encouraging finish to the season has convinced Allardyce the future is bright for Carroll - for club and country.

Allardyce said: "I told him we will improve him at West Ham while we're at the helm and will give him a chance to become a better player. It will reap rewards for us all.

"We expect him to enhance his reputation even further with West Ham to become one of the major strikers in the country and an England regular.

"We hope he will produce for West Ham and England as we prepare to move into the Olympic Stadium in 2016."

Carroll arrived at Upton Park as slightly damaged goods.

He struggled to live up to his £35m price tag from the off on Merseyside.

Rodgers took a quick look at him on his arrival last summer and decided he had no future at Anfield. Carroll made just two substitute appearances under Rodgers.

“We expect him to enhance his reputation even further with West Ham to become one of the major strikers in the country and an England regular”

Sam Allardyce

But Allardyce is certain Liverpool's loss will be West Ham's gain.

He said: "He can now put his experience of Liverpool behind him and show them what they missed by letting him go."

Allardyce also insisted the Hammers have not taken a gamble by splashing out such a huge amount of money on Carroll.

The figures involved put Arsenal off following up a shock tentative enquiry - as revealed in Starsport yesterday.

But Allardyce said: "The size of the contract is a statement of West Ham's belief in Andy and Andy's belief in West Ham.

"We've acquired a player who was recently the most expensive British player in the history of football.

"We haven't done it cheaply, but we have definitely done it wisely. Our relationship over the 12 months he was here (on loan) was key to this deal.

"He came to us in a difficult frame of mind. He had suffered with injuries but the support of the coaching staff, and the rest of the boys that work so hard behind the scenes, was something he felt very comfortable with.

"He met new team-mates over the year and enjoyed their company and I think that definitely helped him to make the decision to return to West Ham.

"So not only did the "So not only did the loan pay off by us finishing 10th in our first season back in the Premier League but it has paid off by him choosing us."

Carroll's contract followed the free signings of full-back Razvan Rat and goalkeeper Adrian. Stockport midfielder Danny Whitehead, 19, joined yesterday to make it four new arrivals.